Day 1: July 19
Arrived at University of Indiana-Bloomington Friday afternoon along with other chapter presidents and officers from around Illinois .
Opening Ceremony:
Anthony Kennedy Shriver, founder of Best Buddies, officially kicked off the conference in front 1700 rowdy middle school, high school, and university students from around the U.S and the world.
Anthony Shriver then introduced Lauren Potter, star from the hit TV show Glee, who provided the key note address.
Lauren recalled how most people doubted her while she was pursuing her dream of becoming an actress, but she explained that there was a second group of people who looked beyond her Downs Syndrome and instead decided to focus on her strengths and encourage her to pursue her dream. She recognized Best Buddies for its efforts to support and respect individuals with IDD.
Lauren described Best Buddies in 4 simple, yet powerful words, "Best Buddies gives HOPE." In her closing words she encouraged the audience to be a leaders at their school, and never listen to those who tell you that you can't do something.
Anthony Kennedy Shriver, founder of Best Buddies, officially kicked off the conference in front 1700 rowdy middle school, high school, and university students from around the U.S and the world.
Anthony Shriver then introduced Lauren Potter, star from the hit TV show Glee, who provided the key note address.
Lauren recalled how most people doubted her while she was pursuing her dream of becoming an actress, but she explained that there was a second group of people who looked beyond her Downs Syndrome and instead decided to focus on her strengths and encourage her to pursue her dream. She recognized Best Buddies for its efforts to support and respect individuals with IDD.
Lauren described Best Buddies in 4 simple, yet powerful words, "Best Buddies gives HOPE." In her closing words she encouraged the audience to be a leaders at their school, and never listen to those who tell you that you can't do something.
Group Picture with Lauren Potter.
Day 2- saturday july 20
Day 2 began with a beautiful performance and speech by Lisa Smith (shown left). Lisa's talent is to perform sign language to various christian songs. Her performance on friday night to the song, "Hallelujah" was both an emotional experiance for her and the audiance.
Lisa provided one of the most witty and memorable quotes of the conference when she introduced herself after performing, " Hello, my name is Lisa Smith and I don't want to brag, but I have an extra chromosome."
Lisa of course is refering to her downs syndrome, a condition that most people consider a disability, but she views it with a different mindset. Instead of focusing on what she can't do , she focuses on her strenghns, and for that reason Lisa represents the spirit of the Best Buddies Leadership Conference.
Lisa provided one of the most witty and memorable quotes of the conference when she introduced herself after performing, " Hello, my name is Lisa Smith and I don't want to brag, but I have an extra chromosome."
Lisa of course is refering to her downs syndrome, a condition that most people consider a disability, but she views it with a different mindset. Instead of focusing on what she can't do , she focuses on her strenghns, and for that reason Lisa represents the spirit of the Best Buddies Leadership Conference.
Following Lisa was Kevin Wanzer, a motivational speaker who tours the country with his positive message.
Kevin's goal for his talk was to empower the audiance one laugh at a time, and he succeeded. Kevin immediatley captured the audiance's attention with his unique and infectious laugh. The remainder of his hour-long talk was non- stop laughter. He told a number of hilarious personal stories that everyone could relate to. Beneath all of the laughter was an insightful message about how to treat others well and how to overcome obstacles in our lives.
Kevin's goal for his talk was to empower the audiance one laugh at a time, and he succeeded. Kevin immediatley captured the audiance's attention with his unique and infectious laugh. The remainder of his hour-long talk was non- stop laughter. He told a number of hilarious personal stories that everyone could relate to. Beneath all of the laughter was an insightful message about how to treat others well and how to overcome obstacles in our lives.
The remainder of the day consisted of workshops with the topics based on personal interest. My interests were about how to lead a chapter and how to fundraise.
Leading a Chapter:
Leading a Chapter:
- Delagate Roles: Identify strengths of officers. Identify interests. Create tasks that will bread leadership. Provide roles that empower officers to use their strengths and interests.
- Stay on task: Create agendas. Check in with officers about assigned tasks prior to deadline
- Motivate your officers: Provide achnowledgment.
- Motivate your chapter: Put yourself in their shoes. Communicate (Remind101).
Fundraising: - Planning Ahead: Determine your expenses for each month of the school year. Determine how much $ you already have.
- Writing a fundraising letter: Include mission of BB, be specific about what you are asking for, follow up with a phone call, and always send thank you notes.
- Elavator Talk: Know how to concisely pitch Best Buddies.
Day 3- sunday July 21
Day 3 consisted of roundtable discussions about chapter improvement and disability advocacy.
Ideas:
- Talent Show
- Guys/ Girls Night
-Pump It Up
-- Sell donuts during school day to fundraise
- Be cosistent in communicating :use remind 101
Hold non- officer mtgs and give organizing roles to peer buddies
Ideas:
- Talent Show
- Guys/ Girls Night
-Pump It Up
-- Sell donuts during school day to fundraise
- Be cosistent in communicating :use remind 101
Hold non- officer mtgs and give organizing roles to peer buddies
Sunday Night Dance